Optimized and Explainable Air Quality Index Classification System

Air pollution has become a major environmental and public health concern due to rapid urbanization, industrial growth, and increasing vehicular emissions. High concentrations of pollutants such as PM2.5, PM10, NO₂, SO₂, CO, and O₃ can significantly impact human health and environmental sustainability. Accurate monitoring and prediction of air quality are therefore essential for effective environmental management and public safety. This paper presents AirAware, a machine learning–based system designed to predict and monitor Air Quality Index (AQI) levels using historical air pollution data and real-time environmental information. The system utilizes the XGBoost algorithm to analyze pollutant parameters and generate accurate AQI predictions and classifications. Data preprocessing techniques such as cleaning, normalization, and SMOTE-based class balancing are applied to improve model performance and ensure reliable predictions across different AQI categories. In addition, the system integrates real-time air pollution data through the OpenWeather API, enabling continuous monitoring of current environmental conditions. The predicted AQI values and pollution trends are displayed through a web-based dashboard, allowing users to visualize air quality patterns and compare real-time data with machine learning predictions. By combining machine learning techniques with real-time data integration, the proposed system provides an effective solution for air quality prediction, monitoring, and environmental awareness.